Left-Overs Galore: Turkey Tetrazzini

Hi everyone! How was Christmas? It was wonderful for us. A bit exhausting with the cooking, cleaning, and toddler chasing as I am sure many of you can relate, but it was a wonderful time with family. Matthew has been very busy trying out all his new toys. He’s such a sweet boy that Santa decided he needed to be spoiled a little this year.

One of the best parts of the holidays is all the yummy left-overs. You can eat them as is, or can transform them into something new – with a lot less work. A lot of left-overs can be converted into delicious casserole-like dishes, however I don’t like the extreme fat, sodium, and preservative (*cough..MSG) content that many of the recipes call for with the canned cream of something soups.

I have been working on a menu project for the rehab hospital (which has AMAZING food by the way, not your typical hospital!) and one of the recipes is a lightened-up version of Turkey Tetrazzini. I had a hungry boy on my hands and a bunch of turkey in the fridge, so I figured it was a good time to try out this quick recipe for myself. After a few tweaks, it went over well. It does have some butter, sour cream, and cheese in it, but to a much lesser extent than other Turkey Tetrazzini recipes have, and it still tasted wonderful. Besides, toddlers need some fat in their diet. It is incredibly important for their brain development.

Another big plus of this recipe: NO artificial ingredients, which I still think is truly the key to protecting our health. You can opt for low-fat sour cream/cheese in this recipe if that’s a concern, but be aware that they often contain fillers to enhance taste. If you are cooking with whole, less-messed with ingredients and using portion control, you really are better off.

Heat oil in a large pot on medium-high heat. Sauté onion and mushrooms until softened, about 2-3 minutes.

Add chicken broth and milk, cover and bring to a boil over high heat.

Add spaghetti (or in my case, egg noodles) and cook for about 10 minutes or until done

Stir in cooked turkey meat and cook until heated through.

Remove from heat and stir in sour cream, butter, and cheese. Garnish with Italian parsley if desired (you can guess I didn’t have much time to garnish)

Serve immediately and enjoy! If you eat this as left-overs, you may need to add additional chicken broth, as the noodles soak it up over time.

I whipped this up in a total of about 25 minutes, and the little guy and I enjoyed it on a very cold day with some peas (hey, the more veggies the better). It really beat another cold turkey sandwich for me.

“This was good. Check please!”

I hope you all have a wonderful, safe, and healthy New Year. Speaking of the New Year, if you have health-related resolutions you want to tackle and live in the SA/New Braunfels area, skip the diet fads and come see me at Food 4 Success, LLC. I provide nutritional counseling in weight loss, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, food allergies, and more with the goal of providing permanent rather than short-term results.

Want to eat healthier but not sure where to start? Come to my class, Carbohydrate Counting Made Easy on January 7 at 6:30pm at the office. This laid-back class is great for weight loss and for diabetics, just contact me to sign up. You can go to www.food4success.com for more information on the class, my contact info, and a list of all my services.

Do you have any healthy left-over transformations to share? Please feel free to comment below!

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Hi! I’m Elissa.

Welcome! I am a registered dietitian, mother of 2 littles, and messy cook who loves spreading credible nutrition knowledge and tasty, nutritious recipes. With our busy lifestyles now a days, I am ALL about simplicity without sacrificing taste or nutrition. My hope is to empower clients, individuals, and families with the nutritional knowledge that allow them to live life to the fullest, and enjoy their food too!